Liu, Zhen-Qi / 刘 桢琦
zql21 at cam.ac.uk /
Google Scholar /
ORCID /
Bluesky /
Twitter /
GitHub
Hey, I'm Zhen-Qi and I study brain + networks
I'm a postdoctoral researcher in network neuroscience.
I work on how complex cognitive and behavioral operations emerge from mesoscale cortical structure
and dynamics across different measurement techniques, temporal scales, and species. I also work with
clinicians to study how network organization is disrupted in neurodegeneration and psychiatric conditions.
Research
My research spans several interconnected themes at the interface of network science, neuroimaging, and clinical neuroscience.
Structure–function relationship in brain networks
How the wiring of the brain gives rise to its activity patterns, cognitive function, and hierarchical organization.
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Liu Z-Q, Shafiei G, Baillet S, Misic B. (2023).
Spatially heterogeneous structure-function coupling in haemodynamic and electromagnetic brain networks.
NeuroImage.
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Liu Z-Q†, Vazquez-Rodriguez B†, Spreng N, Bernhardt B, Betzel R, Misic B. (2022).
Time-resolved structure-function coupling in brain networks.
Communications Biology.
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Liu Z-Q, Betzel R, Misic B. (2022).
Benchmarking functional connectivity by the structure and geometry of the human brain.
Network Neuroscience.
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Vazquez-Rodriguez B†, Liu Z-Q†, Misic B. (2020).
Signal propagation via cortical hierarchies.
Network Neuroscience.
Neuroimaging methods & tools
Methodological advances and open-source tools for reliable and reproducible neuroimaging analyses.
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Liu Z-Q, Luppi AI, Hansen JY, Tian YE, Zalesky A, Yeo BTT, et al. (2025).
Benchmarking methods for mapping functional connectivity in the brain.
Nature Methods.
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Liu Z-Q†, Bazinet V†, Hansen JY, Milisav F, Luppi AI, Ceballos EG, et al. (2025).
netneurotools: a trainee-oriented approach to network neuroscience.
bioRxiv (preprint).
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Luppi AI, Gellersen HM, Liu Z-Q, Peattie ARD, Manktelow AE, Adapa R, et al. (2024).
Systematic evaluation of fMRI data-processing pipelines for consistent functional connectomics.
Nature Communications.
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Luppi AI, Liu Z-Q, Milisav F, Bazinet V, Hansen J, Misic B. (2024).
From Abstract Networks to Biological Realities.
Physics of Life Reviews.
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Markello R, Hansen J, Liu Z-Q, Bazinet V, Shafiei G, Suárez L, et al. (2022).
neuromaps: structural and functional interpretation of brain maps.
Nature Methods.
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Bazinet V, Liu Z-Q, Misic B. (2025).
The effect of spherical projection on spin tests for brain maps.
Imaging Neuroscience.
Cross-species neuroscience
Comparative connectomics and transcriptomics across mammalian species to uncover universal principles of brain organization.
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Luppi AI, Uhrig L, Tasserie J, Mediano PAM, ..., Liu Z-Q, ..., Stamatakis EA. (2026).
Convergent transcriptomic and connectomic controllers of information integration and its anaesthetic breakdown across mammalian brains.
Nature Human Behaviour.
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Luppi AI, Liu Z-Q, Hansen JY, Cofre R, Niu M, Kuzmin E, et al. (2025).
Benchmarking macaque brain gene expression for horizontal and vertical translation.
Science Advances.
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Luppi AI, Ali H, Liu Z-Q, Milisav F, Gozzi A, Bzdok D, Misic B. (2025).
Cognitive cartography of mammalian brains using meta-analysis of AI experts.
bioRxiv (preprint).
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Luppi AI, Uhrig L, Tasserie J, Shafiei G, ..., Liu Z-Q, ..., Misic B. (2025).
Comprehensive profiling of anaesthetised brain dynamics across phylogeny.
bioRxiv (preprint).
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Liu Z-Q, Zheng Y-Q, Misic B. (2020).
Network topology of the marmoset connectome.
Network Neuroscience.
Brain biological organization
Mapping how molecular, vascular, and multi-omic systems are organized across the brain and lifespan.
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Ceballos EG, Farahani A, Liu Z-Q, Milisav F, Hansen JY, Dagher A, Misic B. (2026, in press).
Mapping neuropeptide signaling in the human brain.
Nature Neuroscience.
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Farahani A, Liu Z-Q, Ceballos EG, Hansen JY, Wennberg K, Zeighami Y, et al. (2025).
Cerebral blood perfusion across biological systems and the human lifespan.
PLOS Biology.
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Farahani A, Liu Z-Q, Morys F, Moqadam R, Zeighami Y, Dadar M, Dagher A, Misic B. (2025).
Joint multi-omics profiling of brain and body health in aging.
bioRxiv (preprint).
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Taheri T, Farahani A, Liu Z-Q, Ceballos EG, Harroud A, Dagher A, Misic B. (2026).
Spatial organization of AQP4 channels in the human brain: links with perfusion, edema, and disease vulnerability.
bioRxiv (preprint).
Psychiatric diseases
Network-level disruptions underlying psychosis, depression, PTSD, and other psychiatric conditions.
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Wang H-R, Liu Z-Q, ENIGMA PTSD Working Group, ENIGMA MDD Working Group, Ho TC. (2026, in press).
Childhood Maltreatment and Deviations from Normative Brain Structure: Results from 3,711 Individuals from the ENIGMA MDD and ENIGMA PTSD.
Biological Psychiatry.
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Wang H-R, Liu Z-Q, Nomi JS, Schleifer CH, Bearden CE, Misic B, Uddin LQ, Karlsgodt KK. (2025).
Multivariate Resting-State Functional Connectivity Features Linked to Transdiagnostic Psychopathology in Early Psychosis.
Biological Psychiatry.
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Wang H-R, Liu Z-Q, Nakua H, Hegarty CE, Thies MB, Patel PK, et al. (2024).
Decoding Early Psychoses: Unraveling Stable Microstructural Features Associated with Psychopathology Across Independent Cohorts.
Biological Psychiatry.
Neurological diseases
How neurodegeneration—including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease—disrupts the structural and functional organization of brain networks.
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Qiu T, Liu Z-Q, Gallego-Rudolf J, Edde M, Poirier AV, Zhang Y, et al. (2025).
Tracking a decade of structural brain changes in preclinical and prodromal Alzheimer's disease: insights into amyloid-beta pathology.
medRxiv (preprint).
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Qiu T, Liu Z-Q, Rheault F, Legarreta JH, Caron AV, St-Onge F, et al. (2024).
Structural white matter properties and cognitive resilience to tau pathology.
Alzheimer's & Dementia.
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Rahayel S, Misic B, Zheng Y-Q, Liu Z-Q, et al. (2021).
Differentially targeted seeding reveals unique pathological alpha-synuclein propagation patterns.
Brain.
Open Science
I maintain and contribute to several open-source toolboxes for network neuroscience and neuroimaging.
- netneurotools — a toolbox for network neuroscience
- neuromaps — a toolbox for contextualizing brain maps
- neuromaps-mouse — a toolbox for integrating rodent brain maps
- phyid — a toolbox for Integrated Information Decomposition (ΦID)
- abagen — a toolbox for imaging transcriptomics (maintainer)